Hydrolea corymbosa |
Hydrolea |
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skyflower |
false fiddleleaf |
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Habit | Herbs, erect, to 6 dm, unbranched or with short reproductive branches. | Herbs or small shrubs, usually perennial. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | green, brown, or purple, densely pubescent, without glandular trichomes; thorns rare, 1 per node or absent, 4–11 × 0.2–0.6 mm. |
green, brown, or purple, glabrous or hispid-hirsute, with or without glandular trichomes or long, jointed hairs; thorns occasionally bearing small leaves toward tips. |
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Leaf | blades lanceolate, 2–5.5 × 0.3–1 cm, base acute to rounded, margins serrulate, surfaces glabrous or pubescent. |
blades ovate, lanceolate, or linear, occasionally orbiculate, pinnately veined, base attenuate, acute, round, or obtuse, margins entire or serrulate, often undulate, apex acuminate to acute, surfaces glabrous or densely pubescent, sometimes gland-dotted, with or without glandular trichomes or long, jointed hairs, occasionally pubescent only along main veins. |
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Inflorescences | terminal, leafy panicles or corymbs, 15–30-flowered. |
terminal or axillary, pedunculate, highly branched or unbranched. |
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Flowers | sepals lanceolate, 4.5–7 × 1–2 mm, hispid-hirsute, with glandular trichomes; corolla blue, petals 10–15 × 5–8 mm; ovary glabrous or puberulent, upper 1/2 often with glandular trichomes; styles 2, 5–10 mm, glandular-pubescent toward bases. |
sepals lanceolate or ovate, margins entire, surfaces glabrous or hispid-hirsute, with or without glandular trichomes or long, jointed hairs; corolla blue or white, campanulate; anthers pale pink, white, or blue; filaments white or blue, abruptly dilated at base, glabrous; pollen white or yellow; ovary green or blue, globose or subglobose, proximal 1/2 glabrous, distal 1/2 glabrous, puberulent, or glandular-pubescent; styles white, brown, or blue, often curved inward to summits, glabrous, puberulent, or glandular-pubescent (especially at base); stigmas funnelform. |
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Capsules | globose to slightly ovoid, 3–4.5 × 2.5–4 mm, upper 1/2 puberulent or glandular-pubescent. |
brown or purple, globose or ovoid, occasionally truncated at style bases, 3–7 × 2.5–7 mm, proximal 1/2 glabrous, distal 1/2 glabrous, puberulent, or glandular-pubescent. |
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Seeds | broadly ovoid, symmetric, 0.6–0.7 × 0.3–0.4 mm. |
tan to dark brown, ovoid to cylindric, symmetric or occasionally asymmetric, 0.4–0.7 × 0.2–0.4 mm. |
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Hydrolea corymbosa |
Hydrolea |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Sep. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Wet roadsides and ditches. | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
FL; GA; SC
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e United States; sc United States; Mexico; Central America; South America; s Asia; se Asia; Africa; Indian Ocean Islands (Madagascar); Pacific Islands (Philippines); n Australia |
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Discussion | Hydrolea corymbosa is morphologically very similar to the more western H. ovata, sharing the paniculate or corymbose type of inflorescence and similar stem and sepal pubescence. However, H. corymbosa is a much smaller and more slender plant with fewer (if any) thorns, stems that are dark brown or purple, and lanceolate leaves. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Species 11 (5 in the flora). Species in the flora area are placed in Hydrolea sect. Hydrolea. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Hydroleaceae > Hydrolea | Hydroleaceae | ||||||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Nama corymbosa | |||||||||||||||||
Name authority | J. Macbride ex Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 336. (1817) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 328. (1762) — name conserved: Gen. Pl. ed. 6, 124. (1764) — name conserved | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |